1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to the processing of safflower seeds and has as its primary object the provision of novel processes for preparing protein isolates therefrom which are useful as food additives. Further objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following description wherein parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Safflower seeds are well-known as a valuable source of oil and are primarily grown for such purpose. Conventionally, oil is extracted from safflower seeds by grinding or flaking the seeds and pressing them. The press cake is further extracted with hexane at a temperature of about 107.degree.-110.degree. C. to recover additional oil.
Heretofor, the press cake, after removal of residual oil, has been used for animal feed. A number of beneficial proteins are present in the press cake; however, without further purification the press cake is not suitable for human consumption.
Due to the recent emphasis on increasing the number of sources of plant proteins, procedures have been developed for extracting useful protein isolates from safflower seed. Some of these procedures involve purely mechanical operations such as cracking or milling the seeds and then classifying them on the basis of particle size.
Chemical methods for extracting protein isolates from safflower seeds have also been reported. In one of these methods the press cake obtained after oil extraction as described above is treated with dilute alkali. The juice which forms as a result is separated from solid material and then acidified to pH of 4 to 5 (5 being the iso-electric point of the proteins therein) to precipitate a protein isolate. The precipitate is washed and dried and is ready for use in fortifying foods and the like.